An Early Reflection on a Remarkable Season

I'm sure Will will add his own commentary later, but I wanted to give my opinion on this historical season that ended in heartbreak.

I want to start by saluting all 3 seniors. Bobby Maze is a guy that was advertised as a a complete point guard who was going to come in and become Tennessee's best point guard since C.J. Watson. He came in last season and was very up and down, he hit a game winner at Arkansas, but struggled mightily on defense at times as did the whole team last season. This year was completely different. He was not always perfect, but his point guard play was the best Tennessee has had since Watson. He became a team leader after Jan. 1st, and was our on the floor leader. His 2 free throws in the last 13 seconds against OSU, are 2 of the most clutch free throws in the history of Tennessee basketball. Thank You Bobby and we wish you luck in your future.

I was at the Sommet Center in Nashville for J.P. Prince's first collegiate game at UT. Tennessee was playing a Western Kentucky team that would ultimately get to the Sweet 16. I knew the name J.P. Prince, but I really knew nothing about him. I quickly learned he was a player. He scored 8 points that night in what was a 6 point UT victory. A week later he led the team with 23 points in a win at eventual Elite 8 participant Xavier. We knew then J.P. was a player. Arguably J.P's. finest hour though was Feb 23, 2008 in the Fed Ex Forum. He scored all 13 of his points in the 2nd half against the #1 ranked Tigers, after John Calipari infamously called him "PJ" earlier in the week. The Vols won 66-62, and ascended to #1 for the first time ever. He struggled at times in his junior season, and to many Tennessee fans was a bit of a microcosm for the rest of the 2008-2009 Vols: Extremely inconsistent, really good when he is on, really bad when he was bad. That notion has completely been put to rest in the last 8 weeks though. After Jan 1st he has been a warrior. He saved his best performances for the best times: 20 points in the win over Kentucky, 17 in the SEC quarterfinals vs Ole Miss, 15 vs San Diego State, 18 vs Ohio, 14 points vs Ohio State; but our lasting image of J.P. will be his blocked shot of All American Evan Turner that sent UT to its first Elite 8 in program history.  J.P. will always be one of my favorite Vols, and I wish him all the luck going forward. Thank You J.P.

If Chris Lofton and Dane Bradshaw are the benchmarks for Bruce Pearl players, Wayne Chism is not very far behind #5 and #23 for most beloved Vol of the Pearl era. A Tennessean from Bolivar, Wayne has become the face of Tennessee basketball the last 3 months. He has been a four year starter and has been apart of a staggering 104 wins, the most of any Vol all time. He was a part of 7 NCAA tournament victories another amazing feet considering UT only has 16 all time tournament victories. It really is hard for me to put in words what all Wayne has meant to Tennessee. He has been a 3 point shooter, a dominating post man, a defensive stopper, a team leader in free throw shooting, and has had a personality that is hard to match. He has also took over this team after Jan. 1st. This was his team, and at times he would not let us lose. His second half against Ohio State will go down in my book as the most clutch half by a single player in UT basketball history. He flat out took over the game with 18 points and OSU had no one to stop him. And last but not least the infamous headband, everybody will remember him for the headband that was worn more like a halo. It was pure Wayne. I know there are things that I am forgetting, but Wayne will always be a true Vol, that took this program to new heights. Thank You for everything Wayne, and one final time: Chi$$le!

All 3 of these guys will live in UT lore, they all overcame obstacles to bring Tennessee to new heights. They will all be missed dearly in the years to come. Once again Thank You Bobby, J.P., and Wayne. You will be dearly missed.

I do not think it can ever be overstated how much Bruce Pearl means to Tennessee basketball. On March 5, 2005 I attended the final home game of the Buzz Peterson era. UT played Georgia that night and I have never seen a deader arena. Gaping holes of seats were visible in the LOWER bowl. The black curtains circled the upper deck, If you would have told me that night that Tennessee would be playing in the NCAA tournament the next 5 years I would have told you that you were absolutely nuts. All the credit goes to Coach Pearl.

It is kind of weird to think about now, but Coach Pearl is now the 3rd longest tenured coach in the SEC. Only Kevin Stallings and Billy Donovan remain from when Bruce started. What he has done in 5 years is almost jaw dropping. To review:

-5 NCAA Tournament appearences.                                   

-3 SEC East championships

-An outright SEC title

-57 SEC wins in 5 seasons

-Finished ahead of Kentucky in 4 out of 5 seasons

-3 Sweet 16 appearences

-First Elite 8 appearence in school history

-8 NCAA tournament wins, half of UT's all time NCAA wins

All of this in just 5 seasons. I think something that has added to Bruce's appeal is that he has been a constant when Tennessee football has been anything but. Since Bruce arrived UT has had 2 coaching changes, two 5 win seasons, 0 SEC championships, and the whole Lane Kiffin fiasco. We always knew after football season ended dissapointingly that Bruce was there to cheer us up from January to March. Right now he is the face of Tennessee men's athletics.

When Bruce Pearl arrived at Tennessee he said he wanted to make Tennessee relevant to Kentucky. Mission accomplished. While his record is only 4-7 against the Big Blue, the Tennessee-Kentucky basketball rivalry is by far the best thing going for the SEC in basketball. While Vanderbilt or Florida might argue, Tennessee has definitely become the 2nd power in the SEC after UK. I think this is something that cannot be overlooked, Calipari vs. Pearl is something both fan bases can look forward to for years to come.

While we are all heartbroken over the loss to Mich. State we need to step back and look at how far we have come in 5 years. We are at a place we have never been before. With the incoming recruiting class, led by top 10 prospect Tobias Harris, we are now at a place to reload not rebuild. While we are all dissapointed now, we need to soak in how far we have come. Tennessee basketball is here to stay, and I would not trade our coach for any other coach out there. Let's just enjoy the ride .